Lesson 7

ja-stems and jo-stems

A large number of strong nouns and adjectives, which in the primitive Germanic language could simply be classified as a-stems and o-stems, evolved in a somewhat different direction, particularly in the nominative and accusative singular because the stem-vowel was preceded by the sound j.
Masculine ja-stem nouns:

These fall into two classes. Class (A) ends in -jis. It includes those in which the part of the noun before the j is a single syllable containing:

a short vowel followed by only one consonant (e.g. the nith- in nithjis “kinsman”), or
a long vowel or diphthong followed by no consonant (mostly seen in adjectives, like the niu- in niujis “new”).

Class (B) nouns end in -eis. This class includes those nouns in which the syllable before the ending is:

followed by more than one consonant (e.g. haird- in hairdeis “herdsman”), or
if followed by only one consonant, contains a long vowel or a diphthong (e.g. lek- in lekeis “doctor”, sipon- in siponeis “disciple”), or
if none of the above, contains more than one syllable exclusive of prefixes (e.g. laisar- in laisareis “teacher”).

This table sums up the basis for the difference between -jis and -eis nouns: on the left side, Vowel is the quantity of the vowel of the last syllable before the -jis or -eis ending, and across the top, Consonant is the number of consonants following the vowel:
Consonant: zero one two polysyllabic
Vowel
Short —– nithjis hairdeis laisareis
Long/Diphthong niujis lekeis —– siponeis
Neuter ja-stem nouns

We’ve already encountered some of these, e.g. halja “hell”, sunja “truth”; all of which had a short vowel followed by one consonant, and were declined exactly like the ordinary o-stems. Other types, with a long vowel or diphthong, a short vowel followed by two consonants, or polysyllables, had a slightly different declension with the nominative singular ending in -i, e.g. so haithi “the field” (cf. “heath”)
N so haithi thos haithjos
A tho haithja thos haithjos
G thizos haithjos thizo haithjo
D thizai haithjai thaim haithjom

In every case other than the nominative singular, the endings are just like the normal o-stems preceded by j.

Where the vowel preceding the j was one of the diphthongs ending in u (au, iu) the u became w before the i of the nominative singular, as in so mawi “the maiden”:
N so mawi thos maujos
A tho mauja thos maujos
G thizos maujos thizo maujo
D thizai maujai thaim maujom

Words:

so bandi: the bond, the binding
so frijondi: the friend (feminine)
so haithi: the field (cf. “heath”)
so mawi: the maiden (cf. archaic English “may” for “maid”), pl. thos maujos
so thiudangardi: the kingdom (jurisdiction of the thiudans)
so thiwi: the maidservant, pl. thos thiujos
so thusundi: the thousand
so wasti: the clothing (related to “wear”, and more distantly to “vest”, “vestment”)

ja-stem adjectives

These adjectives fell into two classes, divided on the same basis as the classes of the masculine ja-stems. Class (A) had the same endings as the normal a-stem adjectives preceded by j, except in the masculine nominative singular which ended in -jis, and the neuter nominative/accusative singular, which ended in -i as well as -jata.

The Past Participle is an adjective derived from the verb which indicates a present state resulting from a past action. In the strong verbs it ends in -ans (masculine), -an or -anata (neuter), -ana (feminine) when declined as a strong adjective; it can also be declined as a weak adjective (-ana, -ano, -ano). It corresponds to the verb forms ending in -en in English.

The past participle is the fourth principal part of the strong verb, and like the other parts shows internal vowel changes. However it only has a distinct stem of its own in Class IV; in Classes I, II, and III it has the same stem as the Preterite Plural; in Classes V, VI, and VII it has the same stem as the Present. In Class I (verbs like beitan) the Past Participle contains -i- (ai before r, h, hw).
beitan “to bite” bitans “bitten”
dreiban “to drive” dribans “driven”

In Class VII, the Past Participle has the same stem as the Present, and no augment is added (as there is in the Preterite):
haldan “to hold” haldans “held”
tekan “to touch” tekans “touched”
saian “to sow” saians “sown”

I gave my children to the army; now they are killed.
Tell me, from what kingdom did your kinsman come?
The rain fell, and the wind blew, and the wheat was neither gathered nor threshed.
Where are the new helms and breastplates which were given to us?
When the grain is sown, do not (pl.) walk on the fields with your friends (f.pl.).
Our king lies in his grave until the end of days
Call my maidservants and say, “Where is clothing that was given to the maiden?”
God gives us a new land; there we (will) always eat fruit and drink wine.
Free men and free women should not be beaten.
The king under the mountain comes again to his own kingdom.